The United Nations Security Council has
authorized the deployment of foreign
troops to help reunite Mali, but is
demanding efforts toward political
reconciliation, elections and the training
of the army. Council members voted unanimously Thursday to approve the resolution aimed at restoring peace, protecting human rights and removing a terrorist threat from that African country.

Mali’s Foreign Minister Tieman Coulibaly
called the decision a historic step that will help restore power to Mali’s legitimate government. French Ambassador to the U.N. Gerard Araud said the European Union will support efforts to stabilize Mali and look for donors to help finance it.

Speaking to reporters after the Security
Council vote Thursday, Araud said no date has been set for military action in Mali. He expressed hope that armed
intervention will not be necessary. The resolution does not specify the size of
the force, but the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, has been making plans to send between 3,000 and 4,000 troops to Mali. The resolution says the force will help rebuild the Malian army, support Malian
authorities in recovering the north, and
create a safe environment for delivery of
humanitarian aid.

Al-Qaida-linked militant groups seized
control of the north in April, soon after
renegade soldiers toppled Mali’s elected
president. The militants have imposed a harsh form of Islamic law, enforced in part through public executions, amputations and floggings of alleged criminals. The U.N. resolution does not give a date when military operations will begin. It says the military planning will “need to be further refined before the commencement of the offensive
operation.”

It calls on member states to contribute
troops and funding to the force, which
will be known as the African-led
International Support Mission in Mali, or
AFISMA.

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About beegeagle

BEEG EAGLE -perspectives of an opinionated Nigerian male with a keen interest in Geopolitics, Defence and Strategic Studies

4 Responses to UNITED NATIONS APPROVE INTERVENTION FORCE FOR MALI..TO BE KNOWN AS “AFISMA”

Action speaks louder than words,not just the words but we need to see their massive support in terms of mobility,finance,air supports nd as they rightly noted ‘troops deployment’,And as for our GALLANT MEN of the NIGERIAN ARMY who are known not to retreat neither do they surrender the Govt should provide enough logistics to make sure their lives are not wasted unneccesarily,they should also make sure they get real time video documentation on their operations suchs as raids,search and rescue,in-house clearing, etc,this will go a long way in motivating our youths nd instilling patriotism in hearts of our corrupt nd selfish politicians who would come to the terms that some of her fellow country men willing die to defend the Nation the unpatriotically loot from nd misuse with reckless abandon.

Those that are not willing to lead must step aside. The tragedy here is that Nigeria’s interests are the most threatened by the presence of the raging Islamic militants in northern Mali and it failed to exercise leadership in the formation and eventual direction of this AFISMA force. Our limitation is our lack of military resources and capacity. This limits our ability to act forcefully in defense of our national security interests and allows the interests of external powers such as France, Algeria and possibly those of the United States to trump ours. The irony is that we have the means, even among “competing interests” to correct this anomaly but for some inexplicable reason we are choosing not to.

To be weak, wrote John Milton, is to be miserable. Our leaders have chosen misery rather than strategy and national interest. Why arm the country when it will only make it able to defend its interests against others. And some of those countries will include places where they are depositing their corrupt gains and those gains become at risk of confiscation or worse, public investigation.